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ASIC clarifies action on RBA

The corporate regulator has backed away from suggestions it has thoroughly investigated potential breaches by senior public servants over an alleged corrupt deal linking the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to the regime of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said on Tuesday the bribery allegations would be considered, though a statute of limitations applied.

The clarification came after it issued a statement on Monday about potential Corporations Act breaches by directors of the RBA's subsidiaries Securency and Note Printing Australia (NPA).

The regulator said charges had been laid over allegations that representatives from the NPA attended business meetings in Iraq at the height of UN sanctions with the Middle East country.

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ASIC said it had worked with federal police to determine if company directors had breached the Corporations Act by trying to set up a deal to upgrade Iraqi currency by supplying polymer bank notes.

On Tuesday, ASIC said its Monday statement mentioned that it had reviewed more than 10,000 pages of documents provided by Australian Federal Police before deciding not to take the matter further.